WEDNESDAY ... Day 8 ... temperatures fluctuate wildly, depending on the cloud cover. ... hoops update ... as of early this evening, the only letter of intent to arrive at legendary Gill was that of San Leandro PG Jared Cunningham. ... school still waiting on LOIs from Aussies Rhys Murphy and Angus Brandt. .. paperwork perhaps on walkabout.

Ex-OSU DE Slade Norris was at practice and reported that he's interviewed with NFL teams San Diego and Oakland as draft day nears and has gotten calls this week from Cleveland, Jacksonville, and Kansas City.

Norris said it was sort of strange to do a video interview for Raiders' boss Al Davis.

I asked him if it was stressful, being a player who doesn't really know his NFL fate because he's likely to not get his name called but is hoping to sign with someone as a free agent.

And Norris said the way he looks at it, how many college football players even get to where he is, going through interviews with NFL teams during a time when his dream to play at the next level is still very much alive.

Ex-OSU PK Alexis Serna, who will be a married man in a few months, said he's going back to CFL Winnipeg (he signed a two-year contract last year). He had his ups and downs up North but ended on a positive note and I think the Blue Bombers' fans (who know all about coach Riley) now consider him one of their own.

Media thrilled to find out that we will have something different to write about on Friday.

I would imagine the players, their minds numb with new plays and formations, feel the same way.

"I don't know how we're going to do it yet, but we'll have some form of scrimmage with officials on Friday,'' said Riley.

O-lineman Michael Lamb didn't dress as the team awaits results on his MRI. ... judging from the way he has been moving around, he might be done for the spring.

CB Brandon Hardin didn't do anything in the workout as he continues to rest a quad bruise.

Riley reported that CB Patrick Henderson has a sprained ankle.

Riley gently lectured his team after Monday's practice, noting that he wasn't pleased with some of the execution.

He was happier today.

"I thought it was good today, I thought there was a lot of good football today,'' said the coach.

Halfway through spring ball, Riley said, "I really like what I've seen. ... it's always piecemeal, never very often looks good in total, but I would say in general I am very pleased with the work that is being done, some of the skill development that's going on.''

And the rest of the spring practices? "Same stuff,'' said Riley. "More growth. .. we've just to keep going. ... we might even pull back on some of the interaction and focus more on just doing some things technically correct. ... we've got quite a bit of offense and defense stuff in, now it's a matter of the skills development within the structure of what we do.''

I asked Riley, in the wake of OSU finding out (to nobody's surprise) that there are some very good athletes waiting to step into starting roles in the secondary - which was wiped out by graduation - if he was "less scared'' about the prospect of losing those four starters.

Short answer, yes. "I think these guys will rise up,'' said Riley. "They have the ability to do it, they've shown some great signs. We've been in a situation with two guys (Keenan Lewis, Brandon Hughes) who basically started four years so it's going to be quite a change. ... I think these guys will rise up and do it, like I said, but they need a lot of work and they need as much as this interaction with receivers as they can get.''

He is a long way from being able to actually line up and hit somebody, but DE candidate Matt LaGrone, the former Nevada hoopster, was in uniform (no pads) today and good grief, he looks like a young Ed "Too Tall'' Jones at 6-foot-6 and about 260 pounds. ... the spring roster has him at 240, but LaGrone said he is way over that. ... if the guy can play, and do damage in opposing backfields, a huge bonus for D-line coach Joe Seumalo and D-coordinator Mark Banker.

Finally, the brothers Rodgers, who haven't been around that long but are already achieving legendary status in these parts, are scheduled to be keynote speakers Saturday at OSU's annual "Kaleidoscope of Colleges and Cultures'' program that celebrates the academic and cultural atmosphere at the school. ... James and little brother Quizz are true multi-taskers.

Do not adjust your set dept. ... OSUBeavers.com has this rundown of Day 8 and some good stuff on Quizz and Quan, and obviously it was a VERY SLOW day for photos, judging from this sideline shot of beauty and the beasts.